


The Toy Box

by Anonymous



Category: Dollhouse
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Inappropriate Behavior, Love/Hate, Manipulation, Murder, One Shot Collection, Post-Apocalypse, Power Dynamics, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-08 19:35:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5510420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adelle and Laurence in three acts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You Win Some, You Lose Some

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote these years ago and now I'm bringing them over from my LJ. They have various ratings and are un-beta'd. This first one is Mature. Enjoy!

She’d been sure that Caroline would kill them for what they’d done.

For coercing her into this, for making the technology and, worst of all, for losing control of it; for bringing Armageddon down on them all. Adelle had been ready for it from the moment she and Paul burst through their paltry defenses. She’d been ready to be lined up against the wall or  told to lie flat on the ground, Topher by her side.

In the end, she needn’t have worried about any of it.

Caroline left them behind.

Gave some grand speech about _not being like her_ and how she _could never take away a persons life no matter how much they might deserve it_ , as if saying such a thing would hurt her feelings.

Adelle watches them go nonchalantly.

In fact, the girl is doing her a favor. That’s 16 or so less mouths to feed.

-

It starts off innocent enough, the AC has been wheezing since week two and finally sputters off. It gets a little warmer than what she would like but she, Topher and Saunders are underground and so The House stays relatively cool.

Its nothing to worry about.

-

Dominic comes back somewhere in the middle of week three, dirty with wild eyes.

He never mentions where he was.

She never asks.

-

Their little group has been progressing well so when Adelle walks into her office at the beginning of week 4 to see Mr. Ambrose’s smiling face on her computer screen her heart stutters.

“Good morning Adelle.”

“Good morning sir,” she wonders if her face looks as surprised as she feels, “I turned this computer off. How are you…”

“Because I can do anything,” he replies like it should be obvious, “it’s not too hot in there is it?”

She hesitates before smiling, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Well I’m talking about the broken Air Conditioner of course!”

She takes a step back, “I…”

“And that’s just the beginning,” he cuts in lowly, looking forlorn, “you’ve had your rebellion and now it’s time for you to come back into the fold. I’m giving you this one…”

This time she pulls the plug out to make sure it stays off.

-

By the end of week 4 Dr. Saunders climbs into the imprint chair and becomes Whiskey once again.

Everyone pretends nothing has changed.

-

She and Dominic have been avoiding one another ever since he came back so it’s a bit of a surprise when she finds herself with her pencil skirt pulled up around her waist, one leg over the arm of the sofa and her head of security kneeling at her feet.

He’d come in without knocking.

“What, no gun this time,” she’d quipped, trying to prepare herself for round 2 when he moved forward, got to his knees in front of her, and pulled her panties off all without saying a word and she _really_ shouldn’t be doing this but she can’t stop.

He’s teasing her, barely using the tip of tongue, and she feels so wound up she could bite right through her bottom lip. Her hand flutters above his head for a moment, not sure if she should touch him, but she wants too and today seems like the day for breaking unspoken rules so she does.

He groans and she rears up, moves her other leg over his shoulder  and he hooks his arm around her thigh. Cups his hand against her lower abdomen and pulls it back and _ohhhh_ that feels even _better_.

He’s as good at this as she ever thought he would be.

“Suck.”

He doesn’t alter his pace at all so she raises her voice, “suck.”

When he still doesn’t react she moans and thrusts up, says, “I said suck,” with some force and he grins against her wet skin but does as he’s told. Mr. Dominic has always been good at following orders.

-

Week 7 the refrigerator shuts down with no warning. This particular house had a very specialized diet of organic, locally grown food mixed with free range poultry so Adelle knows that very soon their main food source will no longer be an option for them. They do have a couple canned goods and they will try to eat all the perishable items they can within the next 3 days but she’s getting worried.

_…This is just the beginning_

“What is it,” Topher asks. They’d finally talked him into to coming down to join them for dinner and he’s watching her curiously, picking at fingers made bloody from compulsive drumming.

She tries to smile, “nothing.”

-

The gas cuts out a day later.  
  
"It's fine," she says with authority she doesn't feel.  
  
"We still have some canned goods," her voice is breaking, "it'll be fine."  


  
-

The second time he comes into her office, she’s prepared. They don’t speak before hand, they never do, she just leans back against the side of her desk and levers herself on top. Lets him move into the space between her legs and kiss her.

The first time they’ve ever kissed.

She doesn’t want to enjoy it more because it’s _him_ but she does. Leans in to try and get more and grabs the front of his shirt, pulls him close. She starts to unbutton it and pull it off, she didn’t get to see him at all last time and has plans to make up for that travesty this go round.

He follows her lead and pulls her blouse from off her shoulders, unbuttons her bra with one hand and she thinks about making a joke about his dexterity but she doesn’t want to stop kissing him. Adelle slides her hand down and unbuttons his slacks, slips her other hand inside so she doesn’t catch skin while unzipping him.

She pushes them down over his hips and moves to grasp him when he puts his hand in the center of her chest and forces her flat on her back. He tugs her skirt off, pulls one leg up around his neck, turns his head to kiss the underside of her knee, and touches her gently before tucking himself inside.

The first time he’s ever been inside her and he whimpers “Adelle,” like this is something coveted and longed for and special and she can’t take it so she sits up, almost bent in half,  leaning on one arm, and pulls his head back with her free hand.

 “What makes you think you can call me by my first name,” she doesn’t wait for him to respond, “you will treat me with the respect that someone in my,” she wiggles against him, “ _position_ demands.”

He starts to breath harder, smiles sly like a fox, “of course ma’am.”

-

Afterwards, when she’s pulling her panties back on and he’s buttoning up his suit jacket. Dominic turns to her. She’s been watching him work up to this since they separated “…I”

Adelle puts her hand up to stop him, “Don’t. There’s no room for that anymore.”

For a split second he looks hurt before all emotion fades. He nods curtly and closes the door behind himself.

-

The water pressure lowers over the next two weeks until it’s nothing but a random sputter.

Dominic paces across the floor, “there’s bottled water right?”

“Some, but this house used filters for its main water source,” she smiles, “it’s better for the environment Mr. Dominic.”

They make eye contact and this isn’t the first time she’s thought he might want to strangle her.

Whiskey stares with wide eyes, “what now?”

She doesn’t answer, just slowly walks from the bathroom, up the stairs and into her office. She considers the dangers of what she is about to do. The random wipes, the rolling imprints, Adelle Dewitt and everyone else here could be gone before Ambrose ever calls back.

She takes a breath and bends down, quietly plugs the computers cord back into the wall.

-

He makes her wait 4 days.

-

“Hello Mr. Ambrose.”

“Good morning Adelle,” he replies cheerily, “How are things?”

She laughs, really laughs for the first time since all this happened, “just as you wanted them to be, shitty.”

He starts at her uncharacteristic use of profanity, “tsk tsk Adelle. That’s not very professional.”

“The worlds not professional now can we speak about what we’re both here to do.”

“What would that be?”

She looks at him coolly and he shrugs, grins big, “Can I ask what put you over the top though? The gas? The water?”

“What do you want,” she asks, ignoring his questions, “what do I need to do to make you stop this?”

He looks serious now, frightening even, so she straightens her spine and levels her gaze. Adelle Dewitt didn’t get where she is today by showing fear. She won’t start now.

“My body.”

“Excuse me?”

“My body. I think you called it Victor.”

He takes in her blank face, “I want it back.”

“He’s gone.”

“What did you just say?”

“All of the actives,” she corrects, “were re-imprinted with their original personalities and they are…no longer here.”

He runs his hand through his hair with a sigh, “well that was a dumb move Adelle…”

“Anything else…”

“A body.”

“There aren’t any!”

“Really? Because I have to say, I don’t really believe you.”

It comes to her then, what he’s really saying, and she gives herself a moment before answering, “there are two men here.”

“I can’t hear you.”

“There are,” she starts loudly before lowering her voice, “two men here. Topher and…Mr. Dominic.”

He nods and licks his lips, looks at her like she’s prey, “I want Topher.”

They work out the details and after he signs off, she guiltily takes a relieved breath. She can’t waste time worrying about morality anymore.

It stopped being about right and wrong around the time the gas was shut off and what it all comes down to is that she’s actually proud that it's taken as long as it has for people to start to dying.

-

When she stops wearing her professional attire and instead opts for the cozier workout clothes worn by the actives, even Whiskey begins to look alarmed.

-

“Where’s Topher?”

Adelle looks up at Dominic and smiles blandly, “I have no idea.”

Both he and Whiskey stare back at her strangely.

She isn’t sure they believe her but they say nothing. The three of them have become experts at looking the other way.

-

She catches Dominic watching her sometimes. She knows if he was 100%, if they weren’t living through hell on Earth, he would have already figured it out.

She closes her eyes, good thing for her they are.

-

Everything in the freezer has gone rancid by week 10 and they have begun to go topside to try and find food. She and Dominic go up at least once a week and pick through the stores and gas stations that are within sight of the Rossum building.

It’s been almost three months since it first happened though and most of these places were picked clean long ago.  


-

The lights start to flicker and the electricity goes down in week 12. Adelle begins to wear her suits again and styles her hair into a greasy chignon every morning.

She wants to be ready when he comes calling.

-

“Adelle?”

She opens her eyes and tries to straighten up, “I’m sorry sir, I must’ve nodded off.”

He smiles wanly, “we have a problem.”

“Is that why you haven’t…”

“Haven’t?”

She pushes her hair back, “I thought that…”

“What?”

She looks at him expectantly, “we had a deal.”

He leans back in his seat, silent, when an assistant walks into the room and places a plate in front of him before leaving again.

 “About Topher?”

She nods.

“Well Topher has been less than…motivated to work with us. I’m not sure he’s worth all that I traded him for.”

She crosses her arms over her chest, “He’s a genius.”

“A genius that was already on his way round the bend before you sent him to me,” he shakes his head, “he’s not enough, I’m going to need more.”

“No,” she says, trying and failing to control her tone, “that wasn’t the deal.”

“Deals change.”

“What,” she screams all pretense having gone out the window, “we haven’t eaten for three days! What do you want!?”

He takes a bite of the sandwich in front of him,  slowly swallows, wipes his mouth and takes a breath.

“Blood.”

-

When he comes into her office for the third time she pulls the trigger as soon as he shuts the door. She hits him in the right side of his chest and his body whirls around in a perfect 360 degree turn, blood spraying out in a cape behind him.   
  
She knows he can't really see in the darkened room but Dominic is nothing if not tenacious. He’s confused but trained, turns to where the gun fire came from and starts across the room at a clip he usually reserves for intruders.

Adelle is a strong woman but she knows that if he gets close this is over. She aims for and hits his knee next, knocks his legs right out from under him before he can get within striking range of her. She focuses on breathing then, on slowing down her heartbeat as she lets the gun fall to her side and watches him struggle to get up.  

She starts forward twice before she actually makes it across the floor, kneels down and turns him face up, pulls him into her lap. She can tell he still isn’t quite sure what’s going on, that he can’t quite believe it, but then he sees the gun in her free hand.

There’s no movement for a beat before he grabs her arms, face livid, and pulls her forward like he’s about to hurt her, a last burst of adrenaline, when blood begins to pour freely from the side of his mouth and all the determination drains from his eyes. That, more than anything else, is what makes her start to cry.

“I gave him Topher  you know,” she says, “so he’d turn our facilities back on but he wanted more.”

She shakes her head and pulls him closer, starts to rock, “I tried to give him Whiskey but he said no. He said that I…that I wasn’t…”

She meets his eyes finally, “Laurence I’m sorry,” she sputters, snot and tears trailing down her face, she can’t remember the last time she uttered those words to anyone but she can remember the last time she cried this hard, “I wanted it to be anyone but you but we were all going to die if I didn’t!”

“Ms. Dewitt…,” he starts lowly but stops with a cough filled with a fine mist of blood.

She covers his mouth and watches his face. This will be the hardest part and she shouldn’t say it but she’s selfish so she will, “I…”

“Don’t. There’s no room for that anymore,” He begins to laugh but stops on a groan, “I never thought…” he doesn’t finish, just smiles at her then, like he did when he was between her legs. “It’s not your fault anyway. I’ve always let you get the best of me Adel...”

This time she shoots him through the head.

He never sees it coming.

-

Adelle blinks as the lights pop back on and she can hear the kick of electricity flowing through the building once again. When she looks up, Mr. Ambrose is looking back, “I wasn’t sure you’d actually go through with it.”

“Well I did.”

“And I held up my part of the bargain as well,” he says, motioning behind her. “Canned and fresh foods, when available, will be delivered to you weekly. The power, water, gas A.C. and fridge will be on or fixed soon if they aren’t already.”

He smiles, “see, I’m not a welsher.”

She rolls her eyes and pulls Dom closer, says, “why,” without thinking.

He doesn’t seem to hear and she should count her lucky stars that he didn’t. She shouldn’t give him any more power over her than he’s already got but she has to know.

“Why? Why did you make me do this?”

She looks up from Laurence’s face, “what do you get out of this?”

He studies her before replying, “I did it because you’re the ants at the picnic Adelle, because I can make you do whatever I want and I want everyone to know how easy it would be for them to be in your place.”

They stare at one another quietly before he glances down at Dominic’s body, “I’ll make sure that your shipment includes some lye.”

-

She holds him there for the rest of that day, and the rest of the next day until Whiskey floats into the room and pulls the gun from her stiff hand. Helps her carry his body down the stairs and they put him into one of the gardens.

He’s dead, she _knows_ this, but she also remembers learning that people being buried alive occurred so often in the Victorian era that bells were placed on strings so the person, if living, would be able to pull it and be dug up.

She carefully places the string in Dominic’s hand before covering him, just in case.

This is what burial techniques in 21st century LA have been reduced to.

-

She and Whiskey return to their normal routine. All tech is off, they have dinner together every night and breakfast every morning. Things are almost on the verge of becoming normal again until 3 days later when she hears it loud and clear.

The bell is ringing.

She sits up straight on the couch to see Whiskey standing there, the bottom of her dress is dirty, her nails are caked with mud.

“Go to bed.”

Adelle’s breathing hard, she wants to say no, get up and run down the stairs but she’s half asleep already and lays back instead. Lets her eyes drift closed.

-

That morning they are sitting across from one another at the table. She doesn’t ask if Whiskey knows what she did to Topher or what she tried to do to her, she isn't sure how but she knows the other woman does.

The sad thing is she can’t even really bring herself to care.

Whiskey’s been talking less and less lately, she pantomimes things out, their entire relationship is now a huge ongoing game of charades. She points to the salt and Adelle hands it to her with shaky hands, almost drops it, but doesn’t at the last minute. Pulls her hand back quickly lest their fingers accidently touch.

She doesn’t really want to venture into the other woman’s mind, ever, but she needs so badly to ask her a few questions. Adelle looks at her…

_What were you doing last night?_

…until the other woman looks up and…

_Did that bell ring?_

…she gazes into the sinkhole of Whiskeys thousand yard stare, opens her mouth to ask but the questions die on her lips.

She’s too afraid of what her answers might be.

-

Adelle knows now that Caroline is far more cunning than she ever gave her credit for.   
  
Knows that, wherever she is, she's laughing at them.


	2. A Day Like Any Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The room is uncomfortably quiet for a moment as Mr. Dominic studies her. “You named me as your next of kin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated G

She hears him coming before she sees him.

“You can’t…sir you have to sign in!”

He bursts through the door instead, his hand hovering over where he keeps his gun, and if the doctor doesn’t recognize the gesture for what it is, at least one of the orderlies does. Every time one of his coworkers tries to enter the room, he pulls them back.

“What happened here?”

She can tell he’s talking to her but his eyes never leave the group in the door. Just seeing how tense he is makes Adelle’s temple throb harder. She unconsciously touches the white bandage taped to her head, “Excuse me?”

“I tried to explain…,” the young doctor starts but Dominic cuts him off aggressively, “I’m asking her,” before he continues with a lower voice, “what happened to you?”

“She fell sir!”

Dominic turns to the younger man slowly and he steps back, his face blanched.

“If you answer one more time…”

She groans, “It’s okay Mr. Dominic. I fell down.”

He cuts his eyes to her, asks, “you sure ma’am,” disbelief plain in his voice as he sweeps the room searching for some unseen threat.

She nods slowly, feeling ridiculous, and he begins to relax but when the hospitals employees try to move forward he turns on them quickly. Keeps them lingering in the door with a vicious look for a moment longer, just because he can, before relenting and backing away.

The doctor walks in, cautious but obviously annoyed, “as I was _trying_ to tell you in the hall Mr. Dominic, your friend here was found barely conscious on the floor of her bathroom…”

He’s looking at her again but she refuses to meet his eyes.

“…she isn’t concussed but her ribs are bruised. We medicated her and gave her a few stitches so we thought it best that she get a ride home. I have a prescription for her,” he starts patting his pockets, “that I seem to have left at the nurse’s station,” and sighs dramatically, “I’ll be right back.”

The room is uncomfortably quiet for a moment as Mr. Dominic studies her. “You named me as your next of kin.”

It isn’t a question but she answers anyway, embarrassed and trying to think fast but right now that’s as hard as swimming through molasses, “yes, I was new here…I’ll have it re…”

“It’s fine,” he says quickly, pulls his coat off and throws it over his arm as one of the nurses comes back in the room with the prescription and some forms. “I need you to fill these out just for filing purposes. She looks down at her chart, “Ms. Dewitt was able to tell us a few things but she wasn’t cognizant enough to do all the paperwork,” she hands it over and starts back out the door.

“Excuse me,” Adelle calls out, stopping the woman in her tracks, “my head is really throbbing.”

“Yes, we didn’t give you any pain meds when you first came in because we weren’t exactly sure what was wrong with you but we’ve administered them since then. You should start to feel them any minute now.”

She leaves then and Adelle waits for him to bring the papers to her but he doesn’t until they ask for her social. She scans them quickly as he makes his way back to his perch and it seems he already knows her birthday and that she’s allergic to strawberries and penicillin .

Something about that sets her on edge, she’s starting to feel too hot, she’s getting lightheaded and stretches against it, her gaze settles on him leaning against the wall, “you shower in that too?”

He looks up, confused, and she uses the end of her pen to point out his suit, “it’s 1:30 in the morning.”

He looks down at himself, says, “I do actually,” and crosses his arms over his chest.

She’s a little taken aback, did he just make a joke?

She studies him for a second but there’s not even a hint of a smile on his lips and the doctor and nurse come back in before she can comment on it. They speak with Dominic in hushed tones until the doctor exits again.

He turns toward her, “I have to go talk these people into not having me arrested but I’ll be right back ma’am.”

Adelle nods absently and watches the nurse watch him leave with some interest. She comes over with a weird smile plastered across her face, leans over like they’re about to share some girl talk.

“Why do you have a body guard?”

“He’s not my body guard,” she retorts, irrationally offended on his behalf, “he’s my head of security.”

-

He’s helped get outside and into the car and that drug is really kicking into high gear now. She feels light as a feather, her brain feels like it’s wrapped in fur. She lets her head roll around on her neck before stopping and closing her eyes.

“What happened with the cops?”

His voice sounds like it’s coming through a megaphone lined with cotton when he answers, she’s so tired, “I just told them I was worried, that yes, I understand the protocol is there for a reason and no, I wouldn’t be back anytime soon.”

She opens her eyes and grins at that, “why’d you burst in like that anyway?”

He shrugs, “you get a call in the middle of the night that someone’s in the hospital, especially someone who isn’t in the safest line of work, you take precautions,” he sighs, “I thought someone might’ve done something to you.”

“Are you a father,” she didn’t mean to say that, wasn’t even really aware that she had been wondering it, but since the question’s out there she lets it hang.

His jaw ticks, “no,” and there’s a beat of quiet before he says, “why do you ask?”

“The way you ran into that room earlier. It was very paternal, very protective.”

“That’s my job.”

“Your job is to protect The Dollhouse.”

He glances at her before looking back at the road, “protecting you _is_ protecting The Dollhouse.”

What passes between them then might have been another awkward silence but she’s too sleepy to really notice. Her lids are starting to droop closed.

“Can I ask what happened?”

She opens her eyes and looks at him.

“How did you fall,” he clarifies.

She doesn’t want to tell but he’s sharing so she’ll do the same, “I don’t remember going to the hospital but I know I’d been watching Investigation Discovery and there was a show on about The Night Stalker.”

He nods and so she continues.

“It said that he got into one house because the bathroom window was unlocked so I went to check on mine and,” she points to her head and ribs, “you can see the results.”

She’d also been drinking a little but he doesn’t need to know all that.

Nothing about him changes, his facial muscles don’t twitch at all, but the entire mood of the car alters. He wants to laugh.

“Investigation Discovery huh?”

“It’s a very informative channel.”

“I’m sure.”

“It is! There’s Wicked Attraction and Gang Nation and Most Evil and…,” she would have probably gone on ad infinitum but he breaks in.

“Alright, I believe you.”

“It is,” she replies languidly and he says something back but she’s already gone.

-

Adelle wakes up to a soft voice and hands gently shaking her shoulders.

“Hey?”

It takes her a moment to focus on him, “yes?”

“We’re here.”

  
They don’t move to get out, they just look at one another for a second and she smiles at him because she’s got a head wound and is medicated but she can see the exact moment _he_ realizes how close they are because he backs away so quickly he barely misses smashing his head against the top of the car.

He leans back in after a second and puts his arm around  her waist to help her get out when she nudges him away.

“I can do it on my own,” she says and waits for him to move back before she starts forward only to find she is unable to stop the motion. The curb is hurtling towards her face at an alarming rate when he grabs and pulls her forward. The burst of pain that erupts from her side is enough to let him help her from then on out.  

She doesn’t really remember much after that except the steps up to her place, then he’s helping her onto her bed and moving to hover in the doorway.

“If you need anything call.”

She nods her assent even though she really isn’t listening and starts to pull her shoes off.

“alright, goodnight.”

“G’night,” she replies, slipping under her covers fully dressed and falls into an immediate, dreamless, sleep.

  
-

For the second time in their 3 year relationship she wakes up to find him standing over her.

“Good, you’re awake.”

“And you’re still here,” it isn’t very polite but she’s genuinely shocked to see him.

Dominic nods, “it seems like the cops had to break the door to get in. I jerry rigged it so it’ll stay closed but it won’t lock and I didn’t really feel comfortable leaving you here alone like that. Also,” he adds like it’s an afterthought, “the doctor asked me to keep an eye on you.”

She’s about to say something when he shoves a full glass of water and a napkin into her hand, says, “take your pill.”

She sits up gingerly and expects him to leave her to it but he doesn’t, just crosses his arms and lifts his brow a little. She rolls her eyes, thinks about refusing just to be contrary but decides not to, it really is for her own good. She takes the pill and swigs back a big gulp of water with a grimace.

He nods and gathers up the things he brought in with him to take back to the kitchen.

“If you need help,” he motions to his own head and chest and she remembers her bandages, “just call.”

She won’t be doing that but agrees anyway,

He’s half out the door when he looks over his shoulder and says off handedly, “when you’re dressed, I’ll have breakfast ready.”

He’s out the door before she can object.

-

He’s standing in the refrigerator wearing the same suit as last night when she enters the kitchen. Adelle can’t offer him a change of clothes but she can offer him her bathroom . She hesitates once, worried he might think it’s a come-on, before pushing forward.

“You can borrow my bathroom if you need it.”

“Thanks but I’m gonna shower and change at work.”

She nods and looks to the front room because she can’t really bring herself to look at him right now.

“Thanks for fixing the door,” she says because she can’t think of anything else.

“It’s not fixed. It’s probably been sticking since before last night right?”

“Yes,” she wonders how he knows that.

“Yeah, I just rigged it to stay up until your Super can get here and fix it.”

“You got him on the phone,” she asks in astonishment, and turns to face him, “I’ve been trying to track him down for a week. How did you get him to come out?”

He stops in the middle of plating their food, sleeves rolled up, and licks something off his thumb, “I convinced him.”

And she’s suddenly feeling a flutter some place Mr. Dominic should not be making her flutter so she turns away, eyes falling to her garbage can.

He’s even taken out her trash.

She moves back and sits down at the bar, a little confused by everything that’s happening, and sits where he has placed something decadent and much too fattening in front of her. This is strange, most of the people she’s had sex with haven’t done all these things for her before, but she doesn’t want to question it. Who knew? Laurence Dominic is a bit of a coddler.

She shouldn’t be thinking that that’s sort of sweet either.

Adelle is an independent woman who can make her own way, thank you very much, and whose given a lot of money, a lot of time and a lot of her morality away to try and make that happen.

She should not think that any of this is nice. She shouldn’t like him watching after her and fixing her door and cooking her breakfast and nagging her to take her prescriptions. The domesticity of the whole thing should be stifling to her.

_Like with Roger._

She pushes that thought away before she can even realize it’s there.

She shouldn’t be enjoying this.

He sits down next to her and digs in. Reaches over, without looking up, and dusts some more powdered sugar over her plate.

She kind of is though. .

Adelle clears her throat, “did your mother make you and _your_ father French toast with bananas on top,” and that question came out much flirtier than what she had planned so when he looks up she makes sure not to smile.

“No, but sometimes she made it for me and my little sisters.”

 “sisters?”

He nods, “three of ‘em.”

She takes a breath, the way he’d sidestepped the mention of his father was interesting but she can’t ask him about it out right. She’ll need to be a little more…circuitous in her questioning, “so you were the man of the house?”

“I guess.”

And that explained quite a bit didn’t it? While dad was off living his life and mum was refilling coffee cups or adjusting IV drips or answering phones he was the one making French toast with bananas on top. He was the one tying shoes and making sure field trip forms were signed and everyone was wearing their gloves.

It explained the protectiveness, the sometimes over bearing attitude, the handiness, even the attraction to such a regimented job. She smiles a little, “I always imagined you as a sulky only child.”

He lays his fork against the side of his plate and meets her eyes, “you imagine me as a kid?”

Adelle opens her mouth to reply but nothing comes out, she has nothing to say. He smiles minutely in response, let’s her sweat it out only a moment longer before turning the conversation in another direction.

“I think _you_ were probably the brooding kid.”

 “Yeah,” she says with a short bark of laughter and lets it drop before starting up again, “I went to a lot of boarding schools, came here for university, fell in love with the sun and never left.”

He seems to study her for a moment and she lets him, before he turns away and they fall into a companionable silence for the rest of breakfast. Afterwards, she sends him off to work while she cleans up and freshens her bandage. The doctor wanted her to wrap it but there’s no way Adelle Dewitt’s going into work like that, a little patch will have to do, she’ll be fine.

-

5 people ask her what happened between her car and her office.

Each time she answers the same way: hands on hips and a direct stare until they look away.

They get the drift.

  
-

When Dominic gets into work they start off just like always. He walks her through the security issues for that day, she tells him the actives schedules and he’s on his way out when he stops and turns back toward her.

“I was just thinking about when I heard that you had been promoted to run this house. That must have been almost a year before I got here.”

She doesn’t know what he’s implying at first, is about to straight out ask him, when it comes to her all on its own. How she’d explained him being listed as her next of kin in the hospital. Adelle can feel her face heating up, “I…”

“I thought you might need this,” he cuts in and hands her a bag. She pulls a short adjustable pole from it.

“You put it between the top and the part of your window that goes up,” when she looks perplexed he continues, “so Richard Ramirez won’t pay you any late night visits.”

She doesn’t say anything at first, absurdly touched, but finally reaches out and slides her hand along his lapel. He leans forward incrementally and she gets it now. He doesn’t smile a lot, or joke around much, or speak many words. He doesn’t need to, his actions say it all.

 This is the language of Laurence Dominic “Laur…”

“Miss Dewi...,” Boyd stops in his tracks when he sees them and so do they. No one moves until she sees the embarrassed look on the other mans face. The belief that he maybe thinks he walked in on something. She straightens up and walks back around her desk.

“Thank you, that’ll be all Mr. Dominic.”

He clasps his hands behind his back and nods, “yes ma’am,” before leaving the room.

Boyd moves forward slowly and points to the plastic bag in her hand, “what’s that,” she can tell he’s just making awkward conversation but follows his line of sight to the bag anyway. She smiles a little despite herself, “just something I needed.”

 

 


	3. One Way Street

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Come on Laurence," she prompts quietly.
> 
> Crosses her legs slower than necessary and smiles at the look on his face, "share one drink with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated Teen

**An Interview:**  
  
Adelle walks into the conference room and meets a young blonde woman with her hair pulled back into a severe ponytail and a steaming cup of coffee that she shoves in her general direction along with a stack of about 15 files.

“All the applicants are waiting in the lobby Ms. Dewitt. I’ve scheduled them for 15 minutes each. You should be done by the early afternoon.”

She skims over the files, nods her head in agreement and moves to sit down. When she looks back up to find the girl is still standing in the door anxiously.  
  
Adelle smiles, says, “that’ll be all,” firmly enough for the other woman to get the drift.

She starts a little, seemingly surprised, before nodding and leaving the room quickly. .

Adelle takes another sip of her coffee and reads over the applicants carefully, removes four of them before they ever meet. The higher ups hadn’t been too fond of her desire to find her own head of security but after the debacle her predecessor's had caused she’d talked them into it.

Adelle Dewitt now conducts her own job interviews.

She takes another sip from her cup, before she stands and walks back out of the room, down the hall and to a small lobby with twelve men and three women inside. They’re all impeccably dressed, each with a serious aura and seem to take stock of everything about her once she enters the room.

“Good morning,” Adelle opens cheerfully, “is there a Smith, Jackson, Emerson and Anderson present?”

She knows they are when four men eyeball one another before standing with confused smiles.

Adelle sighs, “the Rossum Corporation will not be requiring your services.”

“What do you mean,” a thin man with an unfortunate salt and pepper goatee asks just a tinge too loudly for her tastes.

Adelle turns toward him, “I mean that we, though thankful for your time, will not take your application for employment.”

He takes a step toward her, a familiar angry look in his eyes when Adelle stops him, “I’d think better of this if I were you.”

“Why would I do that,” he spits.

“Because I would hate to have to notify every other corporation within the state that not only were you not good enough to become a Rossum employee but that I also had to have you removed from its premises.”

The man opens his mouth before shutting it quickly and taking a stumbling step backward.

Adelle smiles big and steps over to clear the doorway, “good choice.”  
  
The four stumble out quickly and she turns back to those remaining.  
 

“Well that was a wonderful way to begin the day,” Adelle deadpans with a cocked eyebrow, “now let’s get started.“

-

It’s now 1:30 and Adelle’s heels are killing her.

The interviews have gone well so far, all the applicants have been more than qualified, but she’s ready to end this and go back to the LA branch. There are two files left in her hand when she walks back into the lobby and asks for Dominic.

Both remaining men stand.

Adelle rolls her eyes and sighs before she looks each over. The man closest to her looks twitchy and slightly damp. The collar of his white button down is wilted against his neck and when she catches his eye he gives her a tight little smile before they go back to darting across the room searching for some unknown threat.

The other man is an inch or two shorter and more…interesting for lack of a better word. He looks calm, not on edge or nervous as some of the others had come off, and when she looks at him he doesn’t smile or look away, just impassively holds her gaze.

She smoothes her skirt and looks at the file on top, asks, “which one of you is Winston,” and narrows her eyes when the tall heavy set man lurches forward.

“That would be me.”

She pulls the file out from under it and turns toward the other man, the one with the cool flat gaze, “then that must mean you’re Laurence.”

He nods and steps forward, “I am.”

“Well Mr. Dominic,” Adelle comments while stepping aside and motioning to the open door, “shall we?.”

 

**A Secret:**

Laurence parks the car he’d been issued and steps to the street’s curb, looks both ways and crosses toward a black Range Rover idling on the corner before opening the door and settling inside.

Another man, older with steel grey hair, is inside at the far end of the car waiting for him.

“How did it go?”

“I got it.”

“We knew you would.”

He’d known it too but feels no need to preen over that fact, “thanks for the vote of confidence.”

The other man laughs and slaps his shoulder, “so what can you tell us about the guy in charge?”

“Her, the person running the house is a woman. She’s British,” he adds after a moment and the memory of softly curled mahogany hair floats around the edges of his mind, “Her name’s Adelle Dewitt.”

**A Mistake:**

She remembers the bottle of whiskey they’d drank, not her liquor of choice but one that would due in a pinch, clearly.

 

 _“Come on Laurence," she prompts quietly._  
  
Crosses her legs slower than necessary and smiles at the look on his face, "share one drink with me.”

 

That and knowing it was a mistake even before it even happened but that she was willing to make it.

-

She meets him in the hall outside of her office the next day and he falls into step just a little behind and to the right of her like he does everyday. You’d never be able to tell that this is the same man who kissed her breathless just the night before. The same one who ripped her most expensive pair lace panties with only a slight smile at her surprised shout. The man who rolled her onto her stomach, held her down and whispered things she hadn’t allowed herself to think about since.   

If someone were to look at him now, all they’d see was a protective pose and a pair of impenetrable eyes like two pieces of blue slate.

This is good. It’s why she hired him.

**A Goodbye:**

“You can’t go out there.”

“Like hell I can’t.”

He isn’t yelling but she can hear the anger beneath the surface, like it’s taking everything in him not to shoot her where she stands.

“You don’t know what it’s like now.”

“Thanks to you.”

“I did it to save your life!”

“You did it to keep control!”

They stare at each other, both breathing hard like they’ve just run a marathon but being in each others presence has always been exhausting in one way or another so she isn’t surprised.

“Mr. Dominic?”

He ignores her and starts climbing the ladder to the surface.

“Mr. Dominic?!?”

“Adelle,” hearing him say her name so calmly in the midst if their chaos stops her in her tracks.

He looks down at her and if she didn’t know better she’d think it was with pity, “I’m leaving whether you think I should or not. I have to.”

He turns back and starts his climb when she calls him one last time.

“Laurence?”

He hesitates, it’s incremental, almost nonexistent but Adelle sees it, before he pops the lid open and pulls himself through.

**A Homecoming:**

She’d left him a note when they escaped L.A.

It had been stupid really, anyone could’ve found it and came after them but she put it somewhere safe. Somewhere only he would  think to look. It’s been months since then and when the kitchen door signals someone’s entrance behind her she doesn’t look up.

“Hello Adelle.”

Then she hears his voice. She sets the plate she’s been drying down for fear that she’ll drop it and sticks her shaking hands into her pockets, she doesn’t want him to see them.  Adelle turns and takes him in slowly: He’s dirty and looks tired enough to pass out. She wonders how long it took him to get here but doesn’t ask, she’ll save it for another day.

“Hello Laurence.”


End file.
